. >> reporter: fiscal cliff talks have hit a stalemate only 29 days to go, republicans and democrats remain far apart over the weekend there was worry negotiations might fail. >> i think we are going over the cliff, it is clear they've made a political calculation. >> reporter: president obama and his team are demanding that congress allow bush era tax cuts to expire. >> there is no responsible way we can govern this country with those low rates in place for future generations those rates have to go up. >> reporter: republicans have drawn a line in the sand on raising tax rates signaling they are open to raising revenue by reforming the tax code and limiting reductions for the wealthy. >> right now i would say we are nowhere. >> reporter: president obama asking for 1.6 trillion in new tax revenue over 10 years, boehner is offering half that. the president offering 600 billion dollars in cuts to medicare and other programs. the speaker says that is not enough. he hasn't outlined what he thinks should be cut. if they can't avoid the fiscal cliff, january 1st, nearly every american will